Stephen Jay Gould

"Nature's creativity exceeds our capacity for imagination."

"Time is the dimension that makes all other change possible."

"Evolution explains not why things happen but how they came to be."

"We are made of atoms that once belonged to stars."

"Intellectual progress requires the courage to abandon cherished beliefs."

"History is written by the contingencies we rarely notice."

"Nature is both wasteful and efficient in mysterious ways."

"Understanding our origins does not diminish us but elevates us."

"We must approach nature with wonder and discipline combined."

"The past is a foreign country that speaks to our present."

"Life's diversity is the result of ancient experiments and accidents."

"We are participants in a story far larger than ourselves."

"The world is full of unanswered questions, and that's precisely what makes science so exhilarating."

"Evolution is a process of constant branching and expansion."

"We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into limbs for terrestrial creatures."

"Science simply cannot adjudicate the existence or character of God."

"Intellectual capacity is not a precondition for belief."

"The absence of fossil evidence for intermediate forms in the record need not imply their non-existence."

"We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life."

"The human species is not at the apex of nature's ladder."

"Facts don't cease to exist because they are ignored."

"The universe cares not for our understanding."

"Beauty itself is a measure of truth."

"Nature operates by small steps, not grand leaps."

"We evolve in the context of our environment and history."

"Diversity is the hallmark of success in nature."

"The mind is mightier than the body in determining human destiny."

"Great science requires both creativity and rigor."

"The fossil record is our primary document for understanding life's history."

"Extinction is the fate of most species that ever existed."